ArtBits

Secret Renaissance Art Ingredient Found: Glass
WASHINGTON -- How did paintings by Tintoretto and other Venetian Renaissance artists get their special glow? Using an electron microscope, Barbara Berrie, senior conservation scientist at the National Gallery of Art, discovered one of their secrets: tiny bits of glass the artists mixed with their pigments.

Harris & Ruble Announce Suit Filed to Recover Alleged Da Vinci Painting
LOS ANGELES--The law firm of Harris & Ruble announced that Jacqueline Hahn has filed suit to regain possession of the famed "La Belle Ferroniere," an important Renaissance painting attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci. The painting achieved celebrity in the 1920's when Ms. Hahn's family became embroiled in a slander of title action concerning the artwork, after Lord Joseph Duveen of Millbank, the preeminent art dealer of the twentieth century, disputed its authenticity.

Anti-Bush art yanked out of exhibit
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A controversial painting that depicts the American flag being flushed down the toilet and sparked protests after its inclusion in an exhibit at the state Department of Justice building last month has been removed. "T'anks to Mr. Bush," the painting by attorney Stephen Pearcy, was moved out of the exhibit in the state building's cafeteria and into the 17th floor hallway in the building's east wing"out of concern for the events going on in the Middle East right now," said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Barankin declined to identify who specifically prompted the move but said it was a department decision that he did not think amounted to censorship.

Broadway puts on a show for Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS -- Veering sharply from its tradition of over-the-top spectacle, this gambling capital is rolling the dice on intimate musical theater. Avenue Q, the 2004 best musical Tony winner, opens in previews for a multiyear gig at the Wynn Las Vegas resort. The show is the start of a suddenly intense liaison between Times Square and the Las Vegas Strip. It's the first of a list of established Broadway hits - including Hairspray, Phantom of the Opera and Spamalot- about to take their places in the next 18 months.

Performing-arts center moves closer to reality
ORLANDO -- Four major real-estate companies are in the running to develop the financing, design and construction of a performing-arts center in downtown Orlando. One of those four developers -- KUD International, Hines, Carter and Trammell Crow Co. -- will be chosen Sept. 1 to partner with the not-for-profit Orlando Performing Arts Center governing board to plan, build and even program and operate the proposed complex. The group still has not decided between two sites for the proposed center -- one on the blocks just east of Orlando City Hall and the other on the city-owned land around the TD Waterhouse Centre and the 79-year-old Carr Performing Arts Centre, just west of Interstate 4. It's not clear when a site will be chosen.

Creation of Miami City Ballet's Contemporary Dance Series
and Young People's Program
MIAMI -- Edward Villella, Founding Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet, announced that he is forming Miami City Ballet's Contemporary Dance Series and Young People's Program. This program will be a new division within the Company that will present contemporary ballets of the highest artistic quality by national and international cutting-edge choreographers, and programs specially designed for young audiences. Performances this season are slated to take place January 27-29 and April 7-9, 2006 at the Lynn and Louis Wolfson, II Theatre, Ophelia and Juan Js. Roca Center (Miami City Ballet Studios) on Miami Beach.